(I wrote this sonnet after my son had graduated from high school and headed off to college in another state.)<\/p>\n
That last, fleet summer, they thumped down stairs
\nmy son and his large friends, hale, merry, loud
\nabout to leave home, disperse the cloud
\nof habits and rules, cautionary airs
\neager to take on new scenes, fresh cares.
\nThey moved as one, that jostling, joking crowd
\nelectric as race horses, and as proud
\ncocky, charming peddlers, themselves for wares.
\nSidelined, I stood unobserved on their beach
\nwanting to implore but keeping my place
\nlonging to take the hand of each and each
\ndraw them a moment from bright ocean\u2019s brace
\nentreat someone: let them loiter in reach
\nlet me wrap him dry once more, touch his face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Isthmus” was published in the journal\u00a0Third Wednesday<\/em>, Ypsilanti, MI, 2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"